I. COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is a 10-week spring quarter class for 5 credits providing undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to become experts on the specifics of the ongoing process of the potential Impeachment of Donald J. Trump; the Standing Rock Movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline, with special emphasis on the role of private military security company Tiger Swan and the legal defense of former congressional candidate Chase Iron Eyes; and the science and U.S. politics of climate change.

II. INTRODUCTION

American civil rights trial attorney & Court of Appeals advocate Daniel Sheehan has been an intermittent guest lecturer on U.C. campuses for 25 years. He has taught: “The Hidden History of America: The History of CIA Covert Operations From WWII to The Present” at U.C. Santa Barbara and has, most recently, taught four sequential spring quarter courses here at U.C. Santa Cruz. These included: (1) “Eight Cases That Changed America”; (2) “The Alternative Theories of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy”; (3) “Our Constitution In Crisis: From The End of The Cold War to The Rise of The Project for a New American Century”; and (4) “Rulers of The Realm”.

Readings concerning, and the documentary film footage coverage of, the events that will be discussed in this course will be assigned – and a one-hour discussion group will be convened every Thursday afternoon at 5 PM, following the week’s second lecture at Attorney Sheehan’s office on the Cowell College Campus. Each student will be required to attend five of these discussion sessions but is welcome at all ten.

Assignments: Expectations and Grading

Students will be required to attend both lectures each week. Each of the reading assignments (or video viewings) that will be assigned will be required to be completed before the lecture in which the subject matter of that reading or documentary is scheduled to be discussed. Time will be reserved for student questions at the end of each lecture.

The following components will make up the final grade:

1. 1. Attendance at all 20 lectures:                                                   20%
   2. Attendance and participation in discussion sessions:         10%
   3. First Essay Due April 28th:        5-6 pages                              15%
   4. Second Essay Due May 14th      7-9 pages                               25%
   5. Final Project Due June 10th (multi-media research)           30%

*Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade. (Plagiarism is the deliberate use of someone else’s words or ideas without acknowledging the source. For the library’s guide to citing sources, see http://library.ucsc.edu/help/howto/citations-and-style-guides and http://nettrail.ucsc.edu. Specific instructions for citation style for each assignment in this class will be given with the assignment.) To learn more about campus procedures for dealing with academic dishonesty, see http://undergraduate.ucsc.edu/acd_integrity/

Disabilities / Accommodations

If you qualify for classroom accommodations because of a disability, please get an Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and submit it to the instructor or one of the T.A.s in person, outside of class (e.g., office hours) within the first two weeks of the quarter. Contact DRC at 459-2089 (voice), 459-4806 (TTY), or http://drc.ucsc.edu for more information on the requirements and/or process.

Required Texts:

In an effort to make this class as affordable and accessible to all students as possible, the required readings and videos will be available through hyperlink or through the e-commons webpage.  When copyright laws prohibit such techniques, the texts will be on reserve at McHenry Library.

WEEK 1: COURSE OVERVIEW

Tuesday, April 2nd:

• The interrelation of the three components of the course

Readings/videos: none

Thursday, April 4th:

• The present status & logistical setting of the potential impeachment of Donald J. Trump
• The stunning victory of Donald Trump on election day 2016: review of the polling and predictions
• Brief description of the Mueller Report, House Investigations, & additional cases (Southern District of NY, Eastern District of VA, NY attorney general)
• Trump’s fossil fuel-friendly cabinet and lesser appointments
• Rex Tillerson, C.E.O. of Exxon Mobile—secretary of state
• Rick Perry, Texas governor—secretary of Energy
• Betsy Devos, sister of Erik Prince—Secretary of Education (Eric Prince is founder of Blackwater, which is linked to TigerSwan, the company that provided security services at Standing Rock to the pipeline company)
• Scott Pruit, Oklahoma attorney general—head of EPA
• Donald Trump’s second act as president: executive order directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reverse it’s 2016 decision requiring a full environmental impact study on the Dakota Access oil pipeline through
• Indian territory

No formal discussion session but Attorney Sheehan will be available to answer questions

Readings/videos:

1. “In Defense of American Elitism,” Salon.com
2. Vox, the process of impeachment (video)
3. New York Times & Washington Post (videos) on Mueller Report
4. Mueller’s Charter
5. Ongoing assignment throughout the course: read today’s news in the New York Times about Robert Mueller (you will need to pay $1/wk to get around the NYT paywall)
6. Spygate part 1 and part 2 (video)
7. Video advocating impeachment: TBD

WEEK 2: CLIMATE SCIENCE

Tuesday, April 9th (Lecture by Dr. Jon Conway)

• *First written assignment
• The physicochemical basis of, and evidence for, anthropogenic climate change

Readings/videos:

1. IPCC AR5 Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (Summary for Policymakers)
2. Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Volume I (Executive Summary)
3. Keeling Curve
4. CarbonTracker video of atmospheric CO2 “pumphandle”

Additional Resources:

• IPCC AR5 Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (Full Report)
• Trenberth et al 2014 Earth’s Energy Imbalance.
• NASA: Earth’s Energy Imbalance
• https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
• https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/greenhousegases/properties.html
• NOAA: Isotopic Fingerprints
• Scripps CO2 Program Isotopic Data
• Abstract of “Anthropogenic carbon release rate unprecedented during the past 66 million years”
• RealClimate – Climate science website made by climate scientists

Thursday, April 11th  (Lecture by Dr. Jon Conway)

• Current and predicted environmental impacts of climate change; feedbacks, tipping points, and lessons from deep time

Discussion Session 1

Readings/videos:

1. IPCC AR5 Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (Summary for Policymakers)
2. Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States (Executive Summary)

Additional Resources:

• IPCC AR5 Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (Full Report)
• Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States (Full Report)
• Ceballos et al 2017, Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines
• Chen et al 2011 Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming
• Diffenbaugh et al 2015 Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California
• Piao et al 2010 The impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in China
• Potts et al 2010 Global pollinator declines – trends, impacts and drivers
• Portner 2008 Ecosystem effects of ocean acidification in times of ocean warming – a physiologist’s view
• Basis for a Carbon Budget? by David Wasdell
• Hamdan and Wickland 2016 Methane emissions from oceans coasts and freshwater habitats – New perspectives and feedbacks on climate
• James et al 2016 Effects of climate change on methane emissions from seafloor sediments in the Arctic Ocean – A review
• Previdi et al 2013 Climate sensitivity in the Anthropocen
• Ruppel et al 2017-The interaction of climate change and methane hydrates
• Bond-Lamberty et al 2016 Temperature and moisture effects on greenhouse gas emissions from deep active-layer boreal soils
• Crowther et al 2016 Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming
• Brand et al 2016 Methane Hydrate – Killer cause of Earth’s greatest mass extinction

WEEK 3: CLIMATE POLITICS

Tuesday, April 16th

• Donald Trump & the historical climate change deniers vs champions of climate action—moderate, liberal, & progressive
• Deniers: main arguments
• Champions
• It’s too late—nothing can be done!
• 28% reduction in 2005 annual level by 2025 (Obama)
• 40% reduction in 1990 levels by 2030 & 100 renewables by 2045 (California)
• Paris Agreement
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Pope Francis: Laudato Si

Readings:

1. Top Ten Climate Deniers
2. ThinkProgress: The era of U.S. climate leadership is officially over
3. Obama policy
4. California Energy Commission – Tracking Progress
5. Paris Agreement: TBD
6. Overview of Laudato Si
7. Pope Francis Appears to Back Tribal Land Rights in Dakota Access Pipeline Fight

Additional Resources:

• Pope Francis: Encyclical Laudato Si

Thursday, April 18th

The Mueller Report – Implications for Impeachment

Discussion Session 2

Readings:

1. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Van Jones panel (video)
2. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez proposed Green New Deal bill
3. Data for Progress version of Green New Deal, full text

WEEK 4: THE POTENTIAL IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD TRUMP

Tuesday, April 23rd

• *Second written assignment
• The Mueller Report: Russian Meddling & Collusion. Was treason committed?
• Convictions/guilty pleas: Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Paul Manifort, Rick Gates, George Papadopolis, Alex Van Der Zwaan, Richard Pinedo
• Indictments: Roger Stone, Konstantin Kilimnik, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian military officers
• The present proposed resolutions of impeachment
• The “more moderate camp” v. the “progressive camp” of Democrats
• The Republican resistance

Readings/videos:

1. The Case for Impeaching Trump, Elizabeth Holtzman (first two thirds of the book)
2. Content related to the Mueller Report (TBD)

Thursday: April 25th

• *1st written assignment due
• The House investigations
• House Judiciary Committee, House Oversight & Reform Committee, House Intelligence Committee, House Ways & Means Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee

Discussion Session 3

Readings/videos:

1. The Case for Impeaching Trump, Elizabeth Holtzman (last third of the book)
2. The Case against Impeaching Trump, Alan Dershowitz (first half of the book)

WEEK 5: THE CONTEXT FOR THE POTENTIAL IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD TRUMP

Tuesday, April 30th:

• Additional cases (Southern District of NY, Eastern District of VA, NY attorney general)
• Campaign finance violations, pro-Trump super pac, Trump organization, Trump family taxes, Trump Foundation, emoluments, inaugural committee, insurance practices

Readings/videos:

1. The Case against Impeaching Trump, Alan Dershowitz (last half of the book)

Thursday: May 2nd:

• The Historical Background of Potential Impeachment
• The narrow “obstruction of justice” articles of impeachment against Nixon: the need of “smoking gun” proof to unseat a president
• The wide-ranging “Star Chamber” investigation of Clinton by Kenneth Starr

Discussion Session 4

Readings/videos:

1. All the President’s Men (video)
2. Guardian timeline of the Clinton impeachment process

WEEK 6: NON-IMPEACHMENT PRECEDENTS

Tuesday, May 7th:

The NON impeachment precedents of:

• ‘59 Eisenhower/Nixon’s War of Aggression in Vietnam & Castro Assassination Attempts & Lumumba & Trujillo Assassinations;
• ‘63 JFK back-channel discussions with Kruschev;
• ‘64 Johnson’s Falsification of “The Bay of Tonkin Incident” and The Phoenix Assassination Program; Heroin Smuggling and War Crimes;
• ‘68: Nixon Treason with Madam Chennault re: North Vietnam;
• ‘72 Cover-up of “Deeper Story” of Watergate & Banco International;
• ‘80 “October Surprise”: Treason of Casey & Reagan/Bush Campaign;
• ‘91 “Baiting” of Saddam Hussein & “Invasion & Occupation of The Middle Eastern Oil Fields”
• ‘03 George “W” Bush’s “Shock & Awe” Invasion & Permanent Occupation of The Middle Eastern Oil Fields

Discussion Session # 4

Readings/videos:

1. Inside the Shadow Government, Christic Institute pg. 1-99

Thursday, May 9

• Iran-Contra
• The “Acting President”: Ronald Reagan – Shackley/Bush & Casey
• The “Off-The-Shelf” Enterprise
• The Investigation and The Filing of The RICO Complaint
• “The World Behind The Veil”: The Revelation of Joseph Burkholder Smith
• The “Eruption Into The Open”….ALMOST
• The “Collapse of the Congress” & Attack on Special Counsel Walsh:
• “The Fire Next Time”
• The Missed Opportunity to Rid The World of The CIA & The Substitute of “Anti-
• Terrorism” for “Anti-Communism”

Discussion Session 5

Readings/videos:

1. Inside the Shadow Government, Christic Institute pg. 100-198
2. Cover-up (video)

WEEK 7 : STANDING ROCK AS A MICROCOSM OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE

Tuesday: May 14th

• *Assign final project
• The #NoDAPL Movement in Context: A History of Struggle
• -The Dakota Access Pipeline has become national news over the past three years, but the struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux Ttribe to gain sovereignty over their resources and land is not a new phenomenon. In the next four lectures, we explore Indigenous resistance to colonialism and corporate exploitation, in both contemporary and historical context, and how the NoDAPL movement is a model for an environmentally just society.

Readings/videos:

1. “Fighting for Our Lives, NoDAPL in Historical Context,” Nick Estes
2. U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People Victoria Tauli-Corpuz reports on her findings from Standing Rock (video)

Additional Resources:

1. Dances With Wolves (video)

Readings/videos:

1. What Was the American Indian Movement?, American Experience (video)

Additional Resources:

1. Agents of Repression, Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall (section on AIM)

WEEK 8: STANDING ROCK AS A MICROCOSM OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE CONT’D.

Tuesday, May 21st

• The Uprising at Standing Rock

Readings/videos:

1. Viceland’s Sacred Water: Standing Rock Part I – RISE (video)
2. “Pipelines Explained: How Safe Are America’s 2.5 Million Miles of Pipelines?”, ProPublica
3. “4 Key Impacts of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines,” National Geographic

Thursday, May 23rd

• The Chase Iron Eyes Trial

Discussion Session 7

Readings/videos:

1. Viceland’s Sacred Water: Standing Rock Part II – RISE (video)
2. Treaties of Fort Laramie & DAPL, Indian Country Today

WEEK 9

Tuesday, May 28th

• In lieu of a formal lecture this day, a public speaking event by Daniel Sheehan and Chase Iron Eyes on the UCSC campus – date/time TBD

Readings/videos:

1. “We Are Not Terrorists,” Lakota People’s Law Project (video)

Thursday, May 30th

• The Impeachment Debate: lecture based on news cycle

Readings/videos:  TBD

Discussion Session 8

WEEK 10

Tuesday, June 4th

• The Impeachment Debate: lecture based on news cycle

Readings/videos:  TBD

Thursday: June 6th

An Overview of What We Have Learned:

• What were the lessons learned at Standing Rock—and what are the implications for climate change?
• What are the lessons that should be learned from Standing Rock regarding the potential impeachment of Donald Trump that can help stave off climate change?
• A re-visiting of the status of the impeachment of Donald Trump & an evaluation of the evidence – and the political climate for and against impeachment and conviction.

Discussion Session 9

Readings/videos: none

Monday, June 10th

*Final project due